Writing about reproductive rights issues in Minnesota and beyond!
As the political arm of Planned Parenthood Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, we mobilize supporters of all parties to defend and increase access to family planning services and fact based, medically accurate sexuality education
We work to inspire and engage citizens to take up the cause of reproductive health and rights through education, electoral activity, grassroots organizing and legislative advocacy.

Centennial

October 11, 2016

For 100 years, Planned Parenthood has been providing care in our communities. As a voice of activism, as a source of reproductive healthcare, Planned Parenthood has remained strong in its fight for quality, nonjudgmental healthcare. From patients to volunteers to staff to donors, Planned Parenthood has touched many souls. All the while, each person adds their voice to a rich 100-year history. Each voice saying however loudly or quietly, “We will not give up.”

So now we turn to those voices, celebrating their experiences and their fearlessness in speaking out in a society that tells us not to. With diverse experiences, these stories are just a sampling that show what 100 years of care really looks like.

Spanning decades, states and services, these are the voices of Planned Parenthood:

Adrienne’s Planned Parenthood story is one that spans from California to Minnesota, from years past until now. It began when Adrienne was in college in California, while she was starting a feminist club on her campus. When a local Planned Parenthood clinic opened, staff from the new clinic reached out to Adrienne to invite her feminist club to take part in the opening celebrations. “That was one of the first situations where people treated me like an adult and were thankful for my contributions,” she remembered. “When the president of the local affiliate approached me and thanked me for my work at my school, it was one of the first times that I felt like I was doing something important.”

Shortly thereafter, Adrienne used Planned Parenthood for its patient services. “I wasn't taking a hormonal birth control at the time. Through an unfortunate, but far from unique, series of events I ended up having unprotected sex. Having already been familiar with the local PP facility, it was my immediate conclusion the next day that I needed to access their service to obtain the Morning After Pill,” she recalled. Like feeling supported by the clinic during her advocacy work, Adrienne also felt supported while receiving care. “There was no shaming. There was no blaming. The practitioner reaffirmed the things that were important and didn’t focus on the things that weren’t. I felt very supported. I got the right service at the right time—the right everything.” Although this might seem like a small interaction, Adrienne described how it impacted her more fundamentally. “The fact that I didn’t become pregnant my senior year of college has made a huge impact on what I’ve been able to do with my life.”

Now in Minnesota, Adrienne engages with Planned Parenthood in a number of ways. While she has the option to visit other clinics for her healthcare services, she chooses to visit Planned Parenthood because she believes in the quality healthcare it provides. She also believes in the work done outside the clinic, and has become an advocate for the larger movement for choice. Part of this advocacy is in the form of monthly donations to Planned Parenthood Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota. “There were a lot of attacks on the rights of women and women’s bodies,” Adrienne told us. “I spoke out about how much these things frustrated me, but I realized I wasn’t putting my money where my mouth was. I needed to financially contribute to ensure that the advocacy members acting on behalf of women continue to get the funds they need.”

It is this advocacy work, Adrienne believes, that is crucial in our communities. It is this advocacy work that is necessary for providing quality, nonjudgmental healthcare for everyone. “The work of Planned Parenthood is healthy bodies, men and women. It is STI screening, it’s education. It is an organization that makes us healthier and happier,” she said. “And to a certain degree, it’s immeasurable—what Planned Parenthood has done, so it has to be told through stories like mine.”

As a patient, intern and now employee, Katy’s Planned Parenthood story is one of compassion and resilience. It is one that shows what Planned Parenthood gives its patients, but also all that volunteers give to Planned Parenthood.“I fell in love with Planned Parenthood at the tender age of 16,” Katy recalled. “I was a girl who was too shy to talk to her parents about birth control and too afraid to ask her childhood doctor what her birth control options were.” Like many other young women, Katy needed a place for nonjudgmental health care, and like many other women, didn’t know exactly where to turn. She ended up traveling about an hour to the nearest Planned Parenthood clinic and remembers feeling instantly welcomed and comfortable. “I remember thinking, ‘This is not what I expected.’ The staff was so warm and welcoming and answered all the crazy detailed questions I had.”

So, after having a positive Planned Parenthood experience, Katy knew where to go when she once again needed a place for safe, nonjudgmental care. “Years later, when I found myself unexpectedly pregnant, I knew where to turn,” Katy told us. “If the first visit I had for birth control didn’t make me fall in love completely, the expert medical care I received during my abortion did. Someone was there to hold my hand during a difficult time in my life, and it was amazing.” Katy remembers leaving the clinic that day, vowing to somehow repay the organization that she felt had given her so much.

Years later, she found herself with more free time after beginning a grad program here in the cities. She joined the team as a Volunteer Program and Training Assistant Intern, and remembers the first few months of her internship. “I was a little lost when I began my volunteer role, but I should have known that, like being a patient, being a volunteer at Planned Parenthood is like receiving a hug from a friend,” Katy explained. “I met wonderful people in the volunteer department who changed my life. They supported me when I had trouble, lifted me up when I needed it and helped me find my way in life.”

Shortly after beginning as an intern, Katy started volunteering in the clinic as a doula, supporting women as she felt supported all those years ago. Now, she works as a Clinic Assistant, and described what this entire journey has meant for her. “From being a patient, to being an intern, to becoming an employee, this journey has shaped me and molded me into who I am.”

As a longtime patient of Planned Parenthood, Brenda has lots of wisdom and insight about what it means to access reproductive healthcare. Over the years, she has come for many different services and has even visited clinics all over the country. “Sometimes it was annually and sometimes it was every few years, depending on if I had a full-time job or was in grad school with a part-time job, what I could afford, and if I had health insurance at the time,” Brenda told us. “It was really my default go-to, and I was very happy that there was always the option to pay just a little if I wasn’t making much money.”

Although her reasons for visiting have varied over the years, Brenda explained that the quality of care has been consistent. “There’s objectivity, there’s sensitivity, there’s kindness, there’s professionalism, and I think that’s been really universal whether it’s the medical assistant, or whoever might bring me in to the clinic room, or the nurse practitioner doing the treatment and exams.” While these things are heartening to hear, it is easy to forget why this matters, why access to reproductive care is a necessity in our communities.

“I see reproductive health as an inherent part of the human experience,” Brenda said. For her, having access to nonjudgmental care at Planned Parenthood has been more than just the healthcare services she has received. It has been a tunnel into a fundamental aspect of what it means to be human. “The message of Planned Parenthood is that you are a person, this is a part of your personhood, and this is a part of your life as a human being.” The true beauty, Brenda explains, is that this doesn’t stop at a certain age. Sex and sexuality are a part of life that transcend age, allowing us to continue being sexual even as we grow older. “There are many decades in life, and sexual expression and sexual experience don’t have to go away. Sexuality might shift and change in how it’s expressed because our bodies change with time. But, the sexual self is still part of the core self that can’t be fragmented off.”

This, in turn, means that reproductive care is also a crucial part of life regardless of age. However, it is this diversity in age that Brenda explained as especially exciting about accessing care. “You’re becoming part of a common female experience,” she described. “You’re joining your mothers and grandmothers and people you’re not related to throughout the decades who have done what was important to stay healthy.” And once this is taken care of, it is time to celebrate the beauty of having sexual experiences. Brenda ended by noting that although care is important, enjoying life in your own skin is equally important. “Enjoy the fact that your body is complex and exciting and really interesting. Take care of it and be safe with it, but really celebrate the fact that you’re alive and have a healthy body even if your level of health is not perfect. Dig it. Before you’re done.”

Kayleen began her Planned Parenthood experience as a patient, when she was in college, receiving birth control from the local clinic. Since then, she has visited Planned Parenthood for a number of patient services and has joined the team as a volunteer. Throughout these diverse experiences, Kayleen was able to learn more about her own body and her place within the fight for reproductive rights.

“I started visiting Planned Parenthood as patient when I was in college,” Kayleen recalled. “I usually visited the Uptown clinic for regular check-ups.” However, regardless of the occasion, Kayleen explained always feeling at ease during a clinic visit. “I’ve always felt comfortable asking questions in a doctor’s office at Planned Parenthood. I don’t feel that way outside of it,” she said. “I’ve gotten two IUD’s through Planned Parenthood, and each time they’ve been really gracious in answering my millions of questions. There is no eye rolling or urgency to get to the next patient. They’re really engaged and present.”

Now as a volunteer, Kayleen has gotten a different look at the work of Planned Parenthood—this time about its political work. “I started in 2014 with the Women Vote campaign. I went into volunteering a little unsure, thinking ‘Do I belong here?’ But the setting was really encouraging,” she described. “It is women of all different ages, and an older volunteer took me under her wing and was very encouraging.”

Kayleen describes how working with Planned Parenthood has allowed her to question and grow. “I try to come to every table with a learner’s attitude. Thankfully, Planned Parenthood is such a friendly environment and there are so many learning opportunities that it feels safe to come with a learner’s attitude.” Throughout this learning process, Kayleen highlighted how volunteering has helped to develop her sense of self as well as her political ideologies.

“Another great thing about being part of the Planned Parenthood community as a volunteer is that we can talk about sex with more people. Maybe you would talk about it with friends, but here you can have more real conversations about lives with a uterus. And maybe other lives too, but just getting real about sex is nice.” As Kayleen now looks forward to her future involvement with Planned Parenthood, she says she hopes to see more people engage with its political work. “I would really like to highlight that it’s easy to stay away from political actions especially when they are controversial,” she told us. “But, it can be really rewarding when it’s done in the wonderful and magical way that Planned Parenthood does. There’s room for everyone, so take your seat.”

In high school, Max was involved with Planned Parenthood’s Teen Council. Teen Council is a group of high school students dedicated to peer education about sex and sexuality. Thinking over his experience, Max recalled everything from how he got involved to how it has influenced his plans for the future. “I put my name down when they were recruiting people to join. Then I had an interview with them and thought, ‘This is actually really cool.’ After that, I went to the first meeting and absolutely fell in love,” Max remembered. Throughout the next several years in Teen Council, Max had the opportunity to advance Planned Parenthood’s mission while developing his own beliefs about the world.

“It was a great way for me as a young person t o become civically minded,” Max explained. “We got to tour the Capitol. We got to canvass. We got to go into schools and interact with our peers on hot-button topics that were relevant to people our age.” Max also recalled being in diverse spaces that he hadn’t experienced before. It was through experiences like this that he was able to develop his own voice and his identity as an advocate.

Teen Council, Max said, has largely molded who he is and how he engages with the world. “It was a great way for me as a young person to become civically minded. It gave me a focus on society and was a big reason why I decided to become a Political Science major. It also played a large part in my deciding to join Teach for America.” While Teen Council has played a large role in the direction of his career, Max also described how it has also manifested in his personal life. “Teen Council created a sense of clarity for me that moved into my relationships and friendships—it created a lifestyle where I didn’t push important issues under the rug.”

Now, several years later, Max is able to think more broadly about all that Teen Council gave him, in both experiences and skills. “I think that in the end, my experience at Teen Council really made me a well-rounded human being. It made me someone who understands the importance of access and the importance of equity in society no matter where that lands. Whether that is between men, women, those who don’t identify with a gender, or whether it’s between races, sexual orientation, or anything.”

The Planned Parenthood Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota Action Fund is the political arm of PPMNS. We mobilize supporters of all parties to defend and increase access to family planning services and fact based, medically accurate sexual education. Read more.